Canada'No accountability:' Manitoba murder conviction quashed

Crown withdraws murder charge in 13-year-old cold case

In a surprise development, the Crown has withdrawn a murder charge in the killing of Naomi Kidston in 2005.

The Murder Accountability Project (MAP) has posted records of more than 17,000 homicides committed in the United States during 2017, allowing users to access individual case files and to explore crime clearance trends for most police departments.

Murder conviction quashed . Terry Kirby. Friday 28 January 1994 01:02. In 1985, the convictions of the other three were quashed because of lack of evidence; Mr Gill's was upheld because his confession referred specifically to committing the murder .

WINNIPEG - A Manitoba man who spent 23 years in prison for first-degree murder had his conviction quashed by the province's Court of Appeal Tuesday.

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SAINT JOHN, N.B. - Dennis Oland is expected to enter a plea of not guilty this morning, as his retrial in his father's murder finally gets under way. Oland will be re-arraigned in a Saint John courtroom, before the much-delayed case proceeds to opening statements and possibly the first witnesses. The murder trial will be heard by Justice Terrence Morrison alone. The New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench judge dismissed the jury yesterday, citing "improprieties" in jury selection involving an officer with the Saint John police force. Const.

Murder conviction quashed . Terry Kirby. Friday 28 January 1994 01:02. In 1985, the convictions of the other three were quashed because of lack of evidence; Mr Gill's was upheld because his confession referred specifically to committing the murder .

Manning murder conviction quashed . Barri White, of Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, is facing a retrial. A man jailed after the murder of an 18-year-old woman has won his appeal against conviction at the High Court. In 2002, Barri White, of Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, was jailed for life

A panel of three judges ruled that Frank Ostrowski was denied important information that could have helped his defence when he was convicted in 1987.

Ostrowski was found guilty of ordering the fatal shooting of a drug dealer based largely on the testimony of a key witness — Matthew Lovelace — who had separate charges of cocaine possession stayed in exchange.

Ostrowski's lawyers and the jury were never told about the deal and Lovelace told the trial he did not receive any favours in exchange for his testimony.

Earlier this year, Crown attorney Randy Schwartz told the Appeal Court that the trial was unfair and Ostrowski's conviction should be overturned.

Ostrowski's lawyer wanted the Appeal Court to go a step further and formally acquit Ostrowski, now in his late 60s.

Manitoba premier opposes abortion clinic buffer bill

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Man walks free as his murder conviction is quashed after THIRTY years in prison and 15 failed attempts to have the verdict overturned. Jerome Johnson, now 50, was exonerated after being wrongfully convicted of murder . He spent three decades in prison after being convicted for his

A Limerick man who successfully appealed against his conviction for the murder of his partner on Monday pleaded guilty to her manslaughter. In July 2015 Mr Justice Donal O’Donnell, presiding at the appeal court, quashed the conviction of Lynch for the murder of his partner at their home in

The court decided to quash the conviction, order a new trial and enter a judicial stay of proceedings.

"There is a significant amount of other evidence that supports the details provided by Mr. Lovelace, such that it would remain open to a jury to find his testimony about the accused credible and reliable," Justice Holly Beard wrote on behalf of the three-member appeal panel.

"It is not clearly more probable than not that the accused would be acquitted at a hypothetical new trial."

However, with all that has happened, a new trial is not warranted, Beard wrote.

"Given the length of time that has passed since the events at issue, including the trial, and the significant amount of time that the accused has already spent in custody, I agree that there should be a judicial stay of proceedings regarding the new trial, and I would so order."

Ostrowski maintained his innocence throughout his incarceration. In 2009, a Court of Queen’s Bench judge cited serious concerns with the conviction and released Ostrowski on bail.

Ottawa man convicted in murder of woman at Gatineau hotel

Blake Dooley has been found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Christine MacNeil in a Gatineau hotel more than three years ago. Christine MacNeil, 25, was shot and killed at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel on Rue Laurier on Oct. 19, 2015. At the time, Gatineau police said she'd been "targeted" and her death planned. Blake Dooley, 56, was found guilty of first-degree murder Thursday. The conviction comes with an automatic life sentence, but Dooley will find out next month when he could be eligible for parole. His next court date is scheduled for Dec. 11.

Briton who killed injured Taliban fighter found guilty of manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility instead.

Downing murder conviction quashed . Stephen Downing always protested his innocence. A man who spent 27 years in prison for a murder he did not commit has won his appeal against his conviction . Stephen Downing was found guilty in 1973 of the murder of typist Wendy Sewell, but that

In 2014, then-federal justice minister Peter MacKay ruled the case a likely miscarriage of justice and ordered the Manitoba Court of Appeal to review it.

Ostrowski's lawyer, James Lockyer, said Tuesday's ruling was a relief because Ostrowski is no longer in custody or on bail for the first time in three decades.

But, Lockyer said, no one is paying any price for the prosecution of his client.

"I think above all, it's that there's no accountability in this case," Lockyer said. "The man spent 32 years under a first-degree murder claim, and no one's accountable for that 32 years except him."

The Ostrowski case is one of a few high-profile wrongful murder convictions that have come to light in Manitoba.

James Driskell was convicted of killing a friend in Winnipeg in 1990. The verdict was based partly on testimony from a witness who was given tens of thousands of dollars in expense payments as well as immunity on an arson charge. The trial was not told about the deal. Driskell’s conviction was quashed in 2006.

Kyle Unger was convicted, based partly on hair samples found at the scene, of killing a teenage girl at a rock festival in 1990. DNA tests years later showed the hair did not belong to him.

Thomas Sophonow was found guilty of killing a waitress in 1981. That was based largely on the testimony of a witness who contradicted in court what she had told police. The defence was not told about the contradiction and Sophonow spent four years in prison before he was freed.

Supreme Court to decide today on whether to hear James Forcillo’s appeal.
A decision is expected today from the Supreme Court of Canada on whether it will hear the case of the former Toronto police officer who fatally shot Sammy Yatim on a streetcar in 2013. James Forcillo was convicted of attempted murder in Yatim’s death. He applied earlier this year to have his case heard at Canada’s highest court after the Ontario Court of Appeal unanimously upheld his conviction and six-year prison sentence in May. The bar to

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